Who'd Have Known
by lulamae-golightly
Summary: Daria and Trent's first date.


**A/N: Daria belongs to MTV.**

Daria sighed and placed her sock-clad feet on the Lane's coffee table. She was spending her summer home in Lawndale before she went back for her senior year of college. Jane had invited her over for a viewing of an entertainingly bad movie and a sleepover.

Suddenly she felt someone sit down next to her and a low, familiar voice greet her. "Hey, Daria." Trent seemed a little different to her since the last time she had seen him, which had been briefly the previous summer.

"How was the gig?" Jane asked, emerging from the kitchen with snacks.

"Pretty good," her brother replied, "We have another one tomorrow."

Daria couldn't help being a little surprised. Mystik Spiral was actually becoming successful?

Jane sat down next to her bespectacled friend and started the movie. The three of them enjoyed laughing at the horrible actors and script, but Daria felt her eyes drooping. She was tired due to not getting enough sleep the previous night, and soon she gave up and let herself fall asleep.

The next thing she knew, she was lying on the couch, her head on a pillow, Trent looming over her and Jane giving her a smirk. "Oh," Daria rose from her pillow, glancing around and placing her head back on it. Then her eyes shot back open.

She hadn't been laying her head on a pillow. Her head had been in Trent's lap. How it got there, she didn't know, but she did know her face was turning red very rapidly. "Umm. I'll be right back." she mumbled quickly, dashing in to the bathroom. Her cheeks were a bright pink, and her hair was a mess. "Good going," she murmured to herself. Why was her crush on Trent back again? She wasn't sixteen anymore!

Sighing, she attempted to fix her hair, then rejoined Jane and Trent in their living room. "Sorry about that," she apologized awkwardly. "I was tired."

"No hard feelings." Trent assured her. "I'm tired, too. Night, Janey. Night, Daria."

The next morning, Daria, hungry, crept downstairs to get some breakfast. She found Trent pouring a bowl of cereal, thankful she put on clothes before she came downstairs so she wasn't in her pajamas in front of him. "Hey, Daria. Want some?" he asked, referring to the cereal.

Daria nodded, yawning. He poured her a bowl and they sat at the kitchen table together. "Sorry about last night." She said.

"Don't worry about it. It was actually kinda my fault. Your body was leaning towards me and I didn't want you to, like, crash into me and wake up, so I sorta..." he gestured weirdly, "adjusted you."

She didn't know how to answer that. "Th-thanks?" Trent chuckled, gently placing his hand over hers._ Stop flirting with me, damnit!_

"How's college?" he asked after a moment, eating a spoonful of cereal.

"Not too bad. How are you?"

Trent sighed. "It's kinda weird with no one around."

"Yeah, I guess it must be. But you've still got your band, right?"

"Mmhmm. It's nice to be getting more gigs." Daria gave him a slight yet sincere smile.

"I'm happy for you, Trent." she said, and he noticed then she had a sort of quiet beauty, especially when she smiled like that. He rubbed small circles on her hand, feeling his smile widen as a pink sprang onto her cheeks.

"Oh. Sorry, didn't know I was interrupting the lovebirds." Jane said, finding the two of them together.

Daria immediately took her hand out of Trent's. "Good morning to you, too." she replied. "And we're not lovebirds."

"Suuuuure." Jane said, smirking, then pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

The next day, Daria had to put down her book to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Daria," Trent greeted her. "I wanted to know if I could take you to dinner tonight and then the gig?"

"Ummm. Sure. What restaurant?"

"Just a little Italian one. Is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course." she replied.

"Okay. I'll pick you up at five."

"See ya then."

"Bye."

That evening, Daria wore a simple green dress, strapless and about knee-length, with a black cardigan over it. Her grandmother had given her the dress for a dance she never went to.

"I can't believe you're going on an actual date!" Quinn exclaimed.

"Me, too." her sister agreed as the doorbell rang.

"Have fun!" Quinn said.

"Be careful!" Helen called from the other room.

"You look nice." Trent complemented, though she felt overdressed.

"Thank you," she replied, getting into his car.

He started the car and they spent a few minutes in an awkward silence as he drove until he turned on the radio. She found herself whisper-singing to the songs. It wasn't so bad after that, and they got to the restaurant fairly quickly. It was a nice, small type of place, with a pleasant spicy smell wafting around.

Once they had sat down and ordered some wine to drink, he asked, "So this place is okay?"

"Of course!" Daria exclaimed as the waiter poured some wine into their glasses. Though she had never been crazy about wine, she took a small sip and discovered she liked it. They ordered a pizza to share between them.

"Pizza and wine," Daria contemplated. "Classy." Trent smirked.

"Definitely," he agreed. "Thanks for coming tonight."

She blushed. "No problem...my mom wasn't crazy about it at first."

Trent took a sip of wine. "Parents." he lamented. "Though I guess we need them."

Their pizza came soon after, and they made pleasant, albeit awkward conversation. "Dessert?" Trent asked after they finished their meal.

"Oh, I'm too full." she replied.

"We could share a piece of chocolate cake." he offered. She just couldn't resist chocolate. Or cake.

She exhaled. "Well...okay."

It was a fairly big piece of cake, but Trent was a typical boy in the aspect that he could eat ridiculous amounts of food and never gain weight, or become full. She took a small bite and couldn't help but close her eyes and let out a tiny noise of pleasure. "This is so good." she breathed.

Trent nodded and they ate the rest of the cake in silence. When they got to the last little piece, he gently leaned over and fed it to her. "Thank you." she whispered. They paid, then got in the car to drive to the small pub where the Mystik Spiral gig was going to be. "This place isn't as nice as the restaurant." he said when they got there.

"Doesn't matter." she said, noticing Jane's car was in the parking lot.

The pub didn't smell as nice as the restaurant, and there were a lot of sketchy characters in the place. "I have to go on. Have fun." he pecked her cheek.

"Good luck." she said, then found Jane in the crowd.

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" she asked mischievously.

Daria rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

"How was dinner?" her friend asked as they sat down at the barstools in front of the stage.

"Really good. Your brother is really..." she bit her lip, hesitating before she mumbled, "sweet."

Jane smiled. "Did you make out in the dark corner of the restaurant and drink a bottle of champagne and feed each other dessert by candlelight?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I don't make out, first of all," her friend began.

"Tom," Jane sang.

"U-um..."

"Just kidding. Hey, they're about to start." They both turned to the stage, watching as Mystik Spiral performed a few songs.

"They've improved," Daria commented after they finished their first set.

"As much as a band like that can...do you seriously mean you haven't made out yet?"

Daria groaned. "We're not gonna make out!"

"I bet you twenty bucks you will make out by the end of the night." Jane wagered.

"You're on. But he has to start it."

"Why of course." she replied in a slight accent as the band took to the stage again for the second and final set. When they were finished, Trent joined his date and sister at the bar. "Good job, Trent." Jane said.

Trent was obviously sweating. He ran his fingers through his hair, and sighed. "Thanks. Want me to take you home, Daria?"

"Alright," she agreed.

"I'll be home soon," Jane promised.

"Be careful." Trent commanded.

"I will. Remember, twenty bucks." she winked at her friend.

"Huh?"

Daria sighed. "Nothing." she said with a glare to Jane. Upon that, Trent took her hand and walked her to the car.

When they arrived at the Morgendorffer residence, Trent took her hand. "Thanks for coming, Daria. It was fun."

"I had fun, too." The next thing she knew, Trent was leaning towards her, his fingertips grazing across her jaw. She remembered her bet with Jane. But suddenly she didn't care, because their lips were touching and she was kissing back. It was short, but when they pulled apart they almost instantly brought their lips together. He was playing with her hair and softly caressing her lips with his. But she was eagerly responding, her hands running along his back. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." She whispered breathlessly. They parted, looking at each other, a little embarrassed, but Daria placed her head on his shoulder, and they stayed that way for a long time.

Trent wanted to take her to his house and carry her to his bed. To hold her until they both fell asleep together. He knew he couldn't, though, so he walked her to the door. "Talk to you soon?" he asked.

"Yes." She agreed, stealing one last kiss before going inside and dialing Jane's cell phone.

"Yeah?"

"I think I owe you twenty bucks.

"Well, who'd have known." Her friend replied, and Daria swore she could hear the smile in her voice.


End file.
